The present invention generally relates to banking terminals, and more particularly to a banking terminal which has cash dispenser and automatic depository functions and is provided with locks which need to be opened when making access to predetermined parts of the banking terminal.
The banking terminal can make various transactions requested by a customer without the presence of a bank clerk. The transaction may deposit and draw out money to and from the customer's own account using a cashing card or a passbook, or remit to an account using a remittance card or cash. Accordingly, the banking terminal always accommodates cash which is to be dispensed and cash which is deposited, and for safety reasons, locks are provided at specific parts of the banking terminal so that the handling of cash is restricted. In addition, since it is inconvenient for the customer if the banking terminal stops operating, there is a need to prevent erroneous operation or access into the banking terminal. For this reason, locks are provided at predetermined parts of the banking terminal so that an unauthorized person cannot make access into the banking terminal, and the locks are opened by an authorized person only when necessary.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a banking terminal, and FIG. 2 shows a rear view of this banking terminal when a rear door is opened.
In FIG. 1, an indicator 1a indicates whether the banking terminal is operating or stopped, and an indicator 1b indicates the task such as deposit, enter accounts, and remit. An opening 1c is provided to receive a card which is inserted, and an opening 1d is provided to receive a passbook which is inserted. An opening 1e is provided to input and output coins, and an opening 1f is provided to input and output bills. A customer operation part 1g integrally has a cathode ray tube (CRT) and a touch-panel. This customer operation part 1g is used to display operating instructions to the customer, display the dispensed amount, input a personal identification number, input the amount of money and the like. A front door 1h is provided at the lower front part of the banking terminal.
In FIG. 2, a card reader-writer image printer (CIP) 2a make read and write operations with respect to a magnetic card, a remittance card or the like and also prints contents of the transaction on a journal paper, a receipt paper or the like. A passbook printer (PPR) 2b carries pit read and write operations with respect to a passbook and also prints the contents of the transaction on the passbook, an input-output slip or the like. A bill recycle unit (BRU) 2c carries out processes such as discriminating counterfeit bills, arranging front and back sides of the bills, accommodating bills by the amount, and paying out bills. A coin recycle unit (CRU) 2d carries out processes such as discriminating counterfeit coins, accommodating coins in a safe, and paying out coins. A maintenance operation panel (MOP) 2e includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a keyboard and the like, and is used to process information from a clerk that is necessary to carry out the daily operation of the banking terminal and to smoothly cope with a failure. A rear door 2f is provided on the rear of the banking terminal. The journal paper and the receipt paper of the CIP part are set in a CIP supply unit 2g, and the CIP supply unit 2g automatically switches to the new journal paper when the journal paper runs out in the CIP paper, for example. A passbook issuing unit 2h issues a passbook and an input-output slip.
For safety reasons, locks 3a through 3h are provided at predetermined parts of the banking terminal.
(1) Door keys for the locks 3a and 3b are required to respectively open and close the front and rear doors 1h and 2f.
(2) A blue key for the locks 3c and 3d is required to insert and extract cash cassettes to and from the respective recycle units 2c and 2d.
(3) A red key for the locks 3e and 3f is required to directly handle the cash.
(4) A clerk key for the lock 3g is required to switch the customer operation screen to a failure information display screen.
(5) A control key for the lock 3h is required to switch the mode between the operation mode and the test mode in the MOP 2e.
The keys described above in (1) through 5) are used to unlock and lock the corresponding locks 3a through 3h.
Not all bank clerks can freely use the above described keys. The keys which may be used by each bank clerk is usually dependent on his position, and each bank clerk has a number of keys required to carry out his duties. Hence, the authorized clerks use the appropriate keys to unlock the locks to collect or accommodate the cash, supply or remove the journal paper or receipt paper, attend to the maintenance and the like.
For example, a cashier of a certain position can manage cash, and thus carries the key for the lock 3b, the blue key and the red key. When collecting cash from or accommodating cash in the cash cassette, the rear door 2f is opened by use of the key for the lock 3b, and the blue key is then used to remove the cash cassette from the bill recycle unit 2c or the coin recycle unit 2d. Thereafter, the red key is used to open the cash cassette to collect or accommodate the cash.
Accordingly, a plurality of keys exist for one banking terminal. Moreover, the keys which may be used are not only different for each branch office of the bank, but are also different depending on the position of the clerks within the bank. Furthermore, it is necessary to use a plurality of keys to carry out a predetermined operation such as collecting and accommodating the cash. For this reason, the following problems exist in the conventional banking terminal.
First, the number and the kinds of keys are large, thereby making it troublesome to manage the keys.
Second, it is difficult to specify the person who used the keys because the keys are used by many people, and this is undesirable from the point of view of the security of the system.
Third, a plurality of keys are required to make one operation such as handling the cash, and the operation becomes complex.
Fourth, the cost of the system becomes high because of the need to provide a large number and kinds of keys.
Fifth, it is desirable to finely restrict the operation of the clerks depending on his positions and/or duties, but it is virtually impossible to realize such a restriction because a lock and its key becomes necessary at many parts of the banking terminal.
Sixth, from the point of view of improving the security of the system, it becomes necessary to use a large number of keys, but there is a limit to increasing the number of keys from the practical point of view.